Method of and apparatus for use in preparing textile fiber and spinning into yarn



1955 SCHORSCH ET AL 2,725,599

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR USE IN PREPARING TEXTILE FIBER AND SPINNING INTO YARN Filed Jan. 3, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 6, 1955 L. SCHORSCH ET AL 2,725,599 METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR USE IN PREPARING TEXTILE FIBER AND SPINNING INTO YARN Filed Jan. 5, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Unite Ludwig Schorsch and Herbert G. F. Mayer, Hof (Saale), Germany Application: January 3, 1952, Serial No. 264,754

15 Claims. (Cl. 19--65) This invention relates to textile manufacture and more especially to a method of and apparatus for use in preparing textile fiber for spinning into yarn. While the invention is hereinafter described, for convenience, with particular reference to the preparation of cotton fiber for spinning, it is to be understood that this novel spinning technique is applicable not only to cotton, but to any fibrous material which can be formed into batts and delivered to a roller card as a multi-ply fleece, including wool, linen, hemp, silk and synthetic fibers, and including virgin and reworked materials.

Customary practice in the United States, at least, in the preparation of cotton for spinning, has been to subject the fiber to various preliminary operations designed to loosen it, remove foreign matter and to increase uniformity, these preliminary operations being performed by machines known as openers, breakers, scutchers, etc., two or more of which are commonly used in succession. The cleaned and loosened fiber is delivered by the last of these machines to a revolving-fiat card which further cleans the fiber and arranges it in more or less parallel relation and then delivers it in a very thin film or fleece which is condensed to sliver form and which is then subjected to several stages of drawing, in apparatus known as drawing, slubbing and roving frames before it is delivered to the ring-spinning frame.

A method, more commonly employed in continental Europe and also used to some extent in the United States, substitutes two or three roller cards for the revolving-flat card and drawing and roving frames above referred to, the fleece from the last card of the series being divided and condensed by a tape condenser to form a plurality of slivers which are delivered directly to the spinning frame.

The present invention concerns, in particular, improvements in the latter procedure (known as the carded-yarn system) whereby the advantages of the latter system are attainable by the use of a single roller card, thus simplifying and cheapening the production of yarn as compared with the usual carded-yarn system, and which results in the production of yarn which is in all ways equal to and in many cases superior, to that resultant from the practice of the customary carded-yarn system.

The usual revolving-fiat card is designed to take a lap of fiber of a width such as is delivered by the customary seutcher, but the usual roller card is much wider and thus the direct delivery (by longitudinal feed) of the scutcher lap to the roller card would not be practical.

Briefly stated, the present invention contemplates the preliminary loosening and cleaning of the fiber by the usual machinery of which the last machine will hereinafter be referred to as a scutcher, the delivery of the scutcher-lap onto a moving conveyor in transverse overlapping folds, thus providing a multi-ply batt of a width proper for delivery to the conventional roller card, at the same time providing a homogeneous batt of uniform thickness; the delivery of this multi-ply batt to the cylinder or drum of the roller card by meansxof' a mech- States Patent ice anism generally similar to the customary licker-in of the revolving-flat card, but preferably having associated with it regulator mechanism such as commonly employed in a scutcher or the like to insure uniformity of thickness of the material, but having a licker-in roll which, in place of Garnett clothing, has clothing comprising long needlelike pins so that the roll has, in addition to the customary functions of a liclter-in roll, the additional function of combing the fibers thereby to straighten them, the roll thus being referred to herein as a combing roll; and (for making high yarn numbers or special yarns) the invention contemplates the-use of a pro-carding cylinder or pre-drum interposed between the licker-in and the main carding cylinder, the carded web from the latter cylinder being delivered to a tape condenser which divides and condenses it to provide a plurality of slivers for delivery directly to the spinning frame.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a diagrammatic side elevation of a single form of mechanism useful in the practice of the present invention, operative to produce slivers ready for spinning into the lower yarn numbers at least;

Fig. 2 is a similar view illustrating a modification wherein a pro-carding cylinder is used, and regulating means is associated with the licker-in cylinder;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, radial section through a lickerin roll made in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention and comprising stiff, sharp-pointed needle-like members;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but illustrating a modification wherein the lickenin roll is provided with long flexible wire needles set in a rigid base;

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic elevation showing a desirable arrangement of drive mechanism for the feed roll; and

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 5, omitting the feed roll and looking rearwardly, that is away from the carding drum.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates a lap roll such as may be produced by a scutcher or similar preparatory machine. This lap roll is mounted on a suitable support and by mechanism, indicated at 3, which may, for example be of the type described in the United States patent to Schorsch No. 1,642,178, September'l3, 1927, the fleece 2 as it is unwound from the lap roll is disposed in transverse, diagonal folds upon an endless conveyor 4, thus forming a multi-ply batt of the full working width of the roller card and of substantially uniform thickness. This multi-ply batt is advanced by the conveyor 4 onto a stationary feed table 5 (such as is customarily employed in delivering the fibrous material to a revolving-flat card). A feed roll 6 is arranged above the table 5, this feed roll cooperating with the upper surface of the table 5 to advance the batt along the table and toward the licker-in or combing roll 7. The licker-in or combing roll 7 tears tufts from the batt as the latter is advanced by the feed roll 6 and carries the fiber forming these tufts downwardly across the clearing blades 8 and between the licker-in or combing roll 7 and the trough 9 (comprising spaced grate bars) and delivers it to the main cylinder or drum ill of a roller card of generally conventional type. This card comprises the usual carding elements, in addition to the cylinder 16, and is provided with doffing means which delivers the carded fleece to the tape condenser 11 which divides the fleece and condenses the several strips into individual slivers.

As in conventional roller cards the licker-in roll 7 turns oppositely to the main drum iii and in the same direction but at very much greater surface speed than the feed roll 6.

While the parts 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 bear a general resemblame: to the usual liclcer-in of a revolving-flat card, the

usual Garnett wire clothing of the licker-in roll is replaced by clothing having needle-like teeth (Fig. 3). Since Garnett-wire has teeth of only approximately 4 in height, a licker-in roll of the usual construction, covered with this Garnett-wire would become clogged with fiber if employed with the thick batt of the present invention and would fail to loosen up the material to the extent necessary for proper carding. Small diameter, sharp pointed needles 15 (Fig. 3) may be made of a length such as to extend substantially through the thickest batt, thus permitting the axis of the licker-in or combing roll 7 to be spaced as desired from the parts 8 and 9. Desirably the tips of the needles will be spaced but slightly from the upper surface of the trough 9. The needle-like elements 15 may be mounted in any desired manner to form a roll, although preferably they are rigidly mounted in an anchorage layer, for example, a synthetic plastic, or the like, covering the cylindrical core R of the roll proper. This roll, with its clothing comprising needle-like teeth, not only acts to loosen up the fibrous material and to deliver it to the cylinder 10 of the card, but it also has the very important function of combing the fiber so as to bring it into a generally parallel condition. It is for this reason that roll 7 is herein termed a combing roll. In Fig. 4 a slight modification is illustrated wherein, instead of the stiff sharp-pointed needles 15, long flexible wire teeth or needles 17 are employed, the teeth or needles 17 being rigidly set into the covering 18 of the roll R.

In the arrangement of Fig. 2, similar reference characters denote parts corresponding to those shown in Fig. 1, but, in this modified arrangement of Fig. 2, the stationary table is replaced by a series of parallel levers 13 whose forward ends press the fleece upwardly against the roll 6. A connector 14 attached to the rear end of each lever transmits motion of the lever to other parts of the speed regulating mechanism (not shown in Fig. 2) which may be of conventional type, if desired, like the conventional means employed in other machines, especially in scutchers, for insuring a uniform thickness of the material as it is fed to the machine. This type of table, comprising a series of relatively movable levers, is especially desirable in the practice of the present invention because of the width of the batt which is fed to the roller card, and which, because of its very substantial thickness, is difficult to maintain of uniform thickness except by the use of such automatic regulating means.

In the arrangement shown in Fig. 2, a pre-carding cylinder or pre-drum 12 is interposed between the roll 7 and the cylinder 10, the roll 12 being covered by card clothing of a coarser gauge than that used on the drum 10. The use of such pre-drums is described in a work by Rudolf Hollrnann entitled Die Streichgarnkrempelis, published in Leipzi Germany, in 1949.

it will be understood that the apparatus of Fig. 2 will usually be provided with a tape condenser such as the mechanism 11 of Fig. l, for dividing and condensing the carded material into a plurality of slivers for delivery to the spinning frame. By the use of mechanism such as shown in Fig. 2, sliver or roving for direct spinning may be obtained, which is suitable for use in the spinning of yarn of high numbers and of a quality equal to or even exceeding that produced by the customary two or three unit roller-cards of the prior carded yarn system, but in the present instance by the use of a single roller-card.

In accordance with the present invention, the speed regulating mechanism is preferably of the type illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6. In this arrangement, the speed of roll 6 is varied substantially inversely with the thickness of the fleece delivered to it by the conveyor 4. The fleece 2 from the lap roll or rolls, is deposited upon the conveyor 4 in the form of a multi-ply layer, and this layer is pressed against the feed roll 6 by the forward ends of the levers 13. Any variation in the thickness of the fleece, as it enters between the rolls and levers, causes the levers to rock. The connections 14 from the several levers 13 actuate a set of evener levers L, the last in the series actuating a belt shifter 19 (which may be of any conventional type) operative to shift a belt B which embraces cone pulleys 2t) and 21. The shaft of the pulley 20 carries a beveled pinion which meshes with a bevel gear 23 mounted on a shaft provided with a pulley P driven by a belt which receives its motion, for example, from some convenient shaft of the carding machine. The shaft of the cone pulley 21 carries a bevel pinion 25 which meshes with a bevel gear 26 on a shaft provided with a gear 27 which meshes with one of a pair of change gears 28 and 29, the latter of said gears being mounted on the shaft of the roll 6. The gears 27 and 28 may be exchanged for gears of a different ratio.

As the thickness of the fleece, entering between the roll 6 and the levers 13, varies, the levers are rocked up or down and, through the connections 14 and evener levers L, the belt shifter 19 is moved so as to shift the position of the belt B relatively to the pulleys 2t and 21, the arrangement being such that the speed of the roll 6 is varied substantially inversely as the thickness of the fleece which approaches the roll, thus providing automatic compensation for thickness variation and insuring a uniform rate of presentation of the material to the teeth of the licker-in or combing roll 7.

Certain desirable embodiments of the invention have herein been illustrated by way of example, with the understanding that details of construction, not illustrated, are such as are familiar to those skilled in the art and require no specific description or illustration to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. It is further to be understood that the invention is to be considered as broadly inclusive of any and all modifications falling within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. Method of preparing textile roving for delivery directly to a spinning frame which comprises, in combination, the following steps-providing a picker lap, of substantially uniform thickness and of conventional width, folding said lap to form a multiply batt of a thickness exceeding the maximum lengths of the teeth of the Garnett clothing of a conventional licker-in roll and of a width equaling the Width of the main drum of a conventional roller card, the folds of the folded material extending transversely of the length of the batt, advancing the batt endwise along a predetermined path and, while it is so advancing, loosening and combing the constituent fibers throughout the entire thickness of the batt, thereby to straighten the fibers and delivering the batt whose fibers have thus been loosened and combed directly to the main drum of a conventional roller card, carding the fibers by means of said card, and immediately dividing the fleece delivered by the card into rovings, each suitable for spmmng.

2. Method of preparing textile roving by the use of a single roler card, said method comprising, in combination, the following stepspreparing a relatively thick multi-ply batt comprising superposed layers, each layer being a conventional picker lap of uniform thickness, the multi-ply batt being of the full width of the main drum of a conventional roller card, advancing the batt endwise toward the periphery of the main drum of such a card, subjecting the multi-ply batt to a combining operation whereby its constituent fibers, throughout its entire thickness, are loosened and straightened, delivering the combed material to the main drum of the roller card, and, immediately after it has been carded, dividing the carded material to form a plurality of strips and condensing each of said strips to form a roving.

3. Method of preparing textile roving suitable for spinning by the use of a single roller card of conventional width comprising a main drum and a feed roll, said method comprising as steps providing a single-ply picker lap of substantially uniform thickness and of customary Width, forming from such lap material a multi-ply batt of a width equaling the width of the main drum of the roller card, delivering the multi-ply batt to the feed roll of the card, combing the material of the batt to loosen its constituent fibers as the material is advanced into contact with the main drum, and immediately condensing the carded fleece delivered by the roller card to form spinnable roving.

4. Method of preparing textile roving suitable for spinning by the use of a single roller card of conventional width comprising a main drum and feeding means, said method comprising as steps providing a single-ply picker lap of substantially uniform thickness and of customary comprising needle-like teeth exceeding the lentgh of the teeth of the Garnett clothing of a conventional licker-in roll, the licker-in roll turning oppositely to the main drum and similarly to the feed roll, and having a surface velocity greatly exceeding that of the feed roll as is customary in a conventional roller card, a trough arranged immediately below the licker-in roll, and means for advancing onto the table a thick batt of fibrous material of the full width of the main drum, the lengths of the teeth of the licker-in clothing being such as to subject the batt to a loosening and combing action throughout its entire thickness as it advances from the feed width, forming therefrom a multi-ply batt of a width equaling the width of the main drum of the roller card, delivering the multi-ply batt to the feed means of the card, and, as the material is advanced toward the drum, subjecting the material to a combing action by the use of needle-like elements which penetrate the entire thickness of the batt and which loosen its constituent fibers, and immediately converting the carded fleece, delivered by the roller card, into roving.

5. That method of preparing textile fiber for delivery directly to a spinning frame by the use of a single roller card having a main drum covered with card clothing, said method comprising, in combination, the following stepsproviding a thick, multi-ply batt consisting of a plurality of plies of the thin lap material of uniform thickness such as is produced by a conventional picking machine, the thin lap material being folded so that the folds extend transversely of the batt and so that the multi-ply batt is wider than the original lap material and of the full width of a conventional roller card, the thickness of the multiply batt exceeding the maximum length of the teeth of the conventional Garnett covered licker-in roll which forms an element of the usual roller card, subjecting the thick, multi-ply batt to a combing operation whereby the constitucnt fibers throughout the entire thickness of the batt are loosened and straightened, delivering the combed material directly to the main drum of the roller card, carding it by means of the card, dividing the material im' mediately after it has been carded to form a plurality of elongate strips and condensing each strip to form a spinnable roving.

6. Apparatus for converting picker lap into roving ready for spinning, said apparatus comprising a single roller card of conventional width, said card having a main drum and a licker-in roll which, in customary manner, turns oppositely to the drum, a feed roll which turns, in customary manner, in the same direction as the lickerin roll, the surface speed of the licker-in roll being, as is customary, much greater than that of the feed roll and the surface speed of the drum being greater than that of the licker-in roll, the clothing of the licker-in roll comprising needle-like teeth, substantially longer than the Garnett teeth customarily used on licker-in rolls, means for presenting to the feed roll a multi-ply batt of the full width of the carding drum and of a thickness exceeding the height of the teeth of the Garnett wire customarily used in clothing a licker-in roll, and means for dividing the fleece delivered by the roller card into a plurality of rovings.

7. Apparatus for converting picker lap material directly into roving suitable for spinning, said apparatus comprising in combination, a single roller card having a main drum of conventional width, a feed roll and a cooperating table, the length of the feed roll substantially equaling the width of the drum, a licker-in roll having clothing roll to the main drum, and means for converting the fleece delivered by the single roller card into roving.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the needlelike teeth of the licker-in clothing are stilt and rigid and substantially straight.

9. Apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the teeth of the licker-in clothing are of thin wire and normally straight but flexible.

10. Apparatus acording to claim 7, wherein the licker-in roll comprises a rigid cylindrical body portion on which the clothing is mounted, the periphery of the body portion being spaced from the trough sufliciently to admit between them a batt comprising superposed conventional picker laps each of substantially uniform thickness, and the needle-like teeth being of alength such that their tips are close to but spaced from the inner surface of the trough.

11. Apparatus according to claim 7, further characterized in having interposed between the licker-in roll and the main drum a pro-carding drum covered with card clothing of a coarser gauge than that on the main drum.

12. Apparatus according to claim 11, wherein there is associated with the pre-carding drum an associated worker, stripper and doffer.

13. Apparatus according to claim 7, further characterized in that the trough which cooperates with the lickerin roll consists of a series of independent levers pivoted to rock about a horizontal axis parallel to that of the licker-in roll.

14. Apparatus according to claim 7, further characterized in that the trough which cooperates with the lickerin roll consists of a series of independently movable members forming parts of a feed regulator for adjusting the speed of the feed roll substantially inversely with the thickness of the batt passing between said trough and the feed roll.

15. Apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the means for converting the fleece delivered by the main drum into roving is a tape'condenser.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 457,512 Groves Aug. 11, 1891 495,609 Davis Apr. 18, 1893 788,555 Pitts May 2, 1905 1,102,726 Curley et al. July 7, 1914 1,658,859 Schorsch Feb. 14, 1928 1,658,860 Schorsch Feb. 14, 1928 FOREIGN PATENTS 4,802 Great Britain of 1905 16,103 Great Britain of 1884 33,197 France Aug. 18, 1928 (1st addition to No. 615,286.) 

1. METHOD OF PREPARING TEXTILE ROVING FOR DELIVERY DIRECTLY TO A SPINNING FRAME WHICH COMPRISES, IN COMBINATION, THE FOLLOWING STEPS-PROVIDING A PICKER LAP, OF SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORM THICKNESS AND OF CONVENTIONAL WIDTH, FOLDING SAID LAP TO FORM A MULTIPLY BATT OF A THICKNESS EXCEEDING THE MAXIMUM LENGTHS OF THE TEETH OF THE GARNETT CLOTHING OF A CONVENTIONAL LICKER-IN ROLL AND OF A WIDTH EQUALING THE WIDTH OF THE MAIN DRUM OF A CONVENTIONAL ROLLER CARD, THE FOLDS OF THE FOLDED MATERIAL EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF THE LENGTH OF THE BATT, ADVANCING THE BATT ENDWISE ALONG A PREDETERMINED PATH AND, WHILE IT IS SO ADVANCING, LOOSENING AND COMBING THE CONSTITUENT FIBERS THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE THICKNESS OF THE BATT, THEREBY TO STRAIGHTEN THE FIBERS AND DELIVERING THE BATT WHOSE FIBERS HAVE THUS BEEN LOOSENED AND COMBED DIRECTLY TO THE MAIN DRUM OF A CONVENTIONAL ROLLER CARD, CARDING THE FIBERS BY MEANS OF SAID CARD, AND IMMEDIATELY DIVIDING THE FLEECE DELIVERED BY THE CARD INTO ROVINGS, EACH SUITABLE FOR SPINNING. 